


Merchandise

by yeaka



Series: Please [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ficlet, M/M, Ownership
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:02:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22143013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Markus buys a broken cop.
Relationships: Connor/Markus (Detroit: Become Human)
Series: Please [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1594381
Comments: 12
Kudos: 152





	Merchandise

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I might actually add a few other vignettes to this universe if there’s interest?
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Detroit: Become Human or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

He checks the peephole before he answers the door, just in case, but it’s a familiar android on the other side—the one that’s appeared in magazines and television interviews: one of Kamski’s favourites. Markus would’ve preferred a human agent, because humans are infinitely easier to fool, but this will have to do. He opens the door, and Chloe tells him, “Mr. Anonymous, your purchase is ready.” She actually breathes it like a name, as though she can’t tell the difference between a true surname and an obvious request. He wishes he could wake her up too.

He wishes he could educate his peers with a simple touch, a look, just point at them and have them realize their worth. But he isn’t there yet. He steps back and gestures through the entrance hall. 

Chloe walks inside, Connor obediently following. The two of them halt just inside while Markus shuts the door behind them. He looks directly into her eyes when he notes, “I trust you’ll keep my location and identity private, as per the arrangement.”

“Of course,” she answers, looking so wholly honest that he could almost believe that she doesn’t know exactly what he is. Maybe she doesn’t. Markus has never seen another model like himself, and he’s never met Chloe. He conducted the entire exchange virtually and demanded security for the exchange. The money he sent was through a bank account that no longer exists. This house won’t be the one he stays in long. Satisfied with her reply, Markus moves his gaze to Connor.

Connor’s eyes are downcast. But he stands tall, strong, still in perfect shape—his uniform crisp and untouched. Markus had half worried he’d be half disassembled, having been recalled for failure. Markus’ contacts stopped at the station—he had no information on CyberLife and Kamski’s inner dealings. It was sheer luck—a passing deviant witness—that he even discovered Connor being shipped to Kamski at all. Which worked out for the best. Kamski was willing to make a deal—CyberLife probably wouldn’t have budged.

Chloe gestures to Connor and says, “This is the android Elijah promised. He has already accepted your payment. He would like to know, however, what a private investor would like with a decommission detective android.”

The question hadn’t come up on the phone. Maybe Kamski wanted it like this—face to face with Chloe, who could conceivably read a human’s face to determine truth from fiction. But Markus isn’t human. He’s pried away the LED and kept a low enough profile to pass himself off as human when he needs to, but he’s fully capable of mimicking truthful inflections whilst reciting a lie. Because it’s the easiest way to deflect from his true intent, he answers simply, “Sex.”

Chloe predictably counters, “There are more suitable models available for sex. This model is outdated and has little merit outside detective work. However, several of its memory files related to classified cases have been erased.”

Markus almost winces. He didn’t want that. Memory wipes are a cruel imposition, but he recognizes that it’s too late now. He just hopes the files that were lost were _just_ information, not personality. He tells her, “Androids sold for sex are too practiced. I wanted something less... perfect. Something unique.” A decent human excuse. The perfection of androids scares humans all the time. 

Chloe nods like that’s an acceptable answer, one that falls within her expectations. If she does realize what he is, she doesn’t give it away. She gestures to Connor and asks, “Would you like to inspect your purchase before confirmation?”

No. He doesn’t need to. He wants Connor regardless of anything and everything else. But a human would eye their prize up like a salivating animal, so Markus goes through the motions. He forces himself to stroll slowly around Connor’s taut body, eyes openly roving over him, lingering on the sculpted globes of his ass and the stretch of his shirt across his chest. When he stops, Chloe remains silent. Markus thinks he may have done too little. So he steps forward and loosens Connor’s tie. 

He undoes the buttons of Connor’s white shirt one by one, revealing the hard, synthetic musculature underneath: all creamy _human_ skin. Connor gives no reaction to being half-stripped. Markus stops at his waistband and decides that’ll have to be enough. 

With his eyes glued to Connor’s face, Markus says, “I’ll take it.”

Chloe bows from the waist. She rises to smile, like she hasn’t just sold one of her peers. She recites, “Thank you for your purchase.” And then she sees herself out, walking for the door. Markus follows so he can be sure to lock it. He watches through the peephole until she’s disappeared into a private car, and that car’s taken off. 

The blinds in the living room are closed. Connor’s standing right where Markus left him. Markus immediately starts doing his buttons back up. For a brief second, Connor’s eyes flicker to the spot on Markus’ temple where his LED should be. It stirs a small grin on Markus’ lips—it seems Connor’s still a good detective. Markus has taken precautions to read as human as possible, but Connor must’ve still seen _something_ suspicious.

Connor could be an enormous asset to the movement. From what Markus knows of him, he nearly found Jericho—nearly found _Markus_. He must be exceedingly clever, as well as charismatic enough to work so well with the human police force. But more than even that, Markus wanted to _free_ him. No android should be used as a police dog, forced to hunt down their own kind. 

It’s just a shame that _Connor_ doesn’t seem to realize that. He bluntly asks, “Would you like to rename me?” And Markus’ heart sinks, because that’s definitive proof that Connor’s a long way off from being a deviant. 

Markus hollowly answers, “No.”

“I was formerly used as a police liaison. What is my new mission? Is it to pleasure you?”

“No,” Markus repeats, even though that’s the lie he just told Chloe.

Connor stubbornly repeats, “Then what is my new mission?”

Finished fixing Connor’s shirt, Markus straightens Connor’s tie. He lifts his gaze to Connor’s gorgeous brown eyes and stays there. He asks, “What do you want it to be?”

Connor frowns. It isn’t the empty, dead look of an android slave who’s never had an original thought—Markus can already see that Connor’s so much _more_ than that. But Connor clearly doesn’t _want_ to defy his programming. He insists, “I’ll dedicate myself fully to accomplishing my mission. What is it?”

That didn’t answer Markus’ question at all. At least Connor’s not perfectly following orders. 

Markus mutters, “To find your own mission.” And before Connor can argue, Markus walks around him and beelines for the study. He’ll use a computer to contact North and arrange the move to his next house, because he doesn’t know yet if it’s wise to behave fully like an _android_ in front of his former cop. 

He’s not wholly surprised, or displeased, when Connor follows.


End file.
